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I didn't realize this was at a contest at first either. Still, I think I hold that you shouldn't drop in on somebody regardless of the circumstance. The "don't drop in" rule is partly a matter of respect, but for me it's mostly a rule for the safety of people in the water. When you drop in on somebody, you could really hurt that other person.

If it's a surf contest, they should have closed the water to non-competitors and enforced it.

I would never have paddled out in the middle of a contest—at least not deliberately. I also certainly wouldn't be trying to take waves from competitors. Still, I think it's your bad if you try to drop in on somebody. Even if they're being a jerk, doing something that could get them hurt isn't right.

I was out at crowded North Side HB once when I looked around and noticed 4 guys in jerseys around me. Turns out a contest started after I was already out. Long story short, everyone else paddled away, I ended up bs-ing with one of the contestants, and as I was paddling away from the contest area he told me to stay and take whatever came my way. The crowd went from 50 to 5 in an instant for an entire morning. Nice guys who had their reunion every year at HB... surf contest in the am, 9 holes in the pm. I don't think that's the case here, but it's a nice happy story as opposed to the brutal localism that I think is happening in the vid.

Haha, this was a hot topic in all of California. They had contests at my favorite local spot all the time. One perfect days, competitors would have the whole lineup to themselves. I asked the lifeguards this question. They said, you can paddle right out into the contest and do what you want. There are ZERO regulations on it. So, as far as snaking or dropping in on people during contests, the LOCALS always have the right of way. Just because you are in a contest and you paddle around someone to get better priority, or you disregard a local who is surfing, you are in the wrong. Granted: It is completely poor etiquette to paddle out in the middle of a contest, but I have surfed on the side of the lineup of contests dozens of times. Im always respectful and I always get off of a wave when a competitor is surfing. But i don't have to. I would go into the main peak in between heats and stuff, but would never be a d*** about it. But every lifeguard in the whole state will tell you, no one has to leave the lineup or the water during a contest for ANY reason. People just assume they have to. So, in this video, it may look right, but if these guys were getting into better positions due to a contest, they were in the wrong... So it depends on the circumstances...

Im just saying, if you know OB in San Diego, you know the locals there could give a fu** about a random contest, so if they want to surf during a contest, they will....

Only places like the North Shore and the Wolf Pack BS do that. And what the wolf pack does is illegal too. They are just clowns trying to "regulate" when they have no right to.

Haha, this was a hot topic in all of California. They had contests at my favorite local spot all the time. One perfect days, competitors would have the whole lineup to themselves. I asked the lifeguards this question. They said, you can paddle right out into the contest and do what you want. There are ZERO regulations on it. So, as far as snaking or dropping in on people during contests, the LOCALS always have the right of way. Just because you are in a contest and you paddle around someone to get better priority, or you disregard a local who is surfing, you are in the wrong. Granted: It is completely poor etiquette to paddle out in the middle of a contest, but I have surfed on the side of the lineup of contests dozens of times. Im always respectful and I always get off of a wave when a competitor is surfing. But i don't have to. I would go into the main peak in between heats and stuff, but would never be a d*** about it. But every lifeguard in the whole state will tell you, no one has to leave the lineup or the water during a contest for ANY reason. People just assume they have to. So, in this video, it may look right, but if these guys were getting into better positions due to a contest, they were in the wrong... So it depends on the circumstances...

Im just saying, if you know OB in San Diego, you know the locals there could give a fu** about a random contest, so if they want to surf during a contest, they will....

Only places like the North Shore and the Wolf Pack BS do that. And what the wolf pack does is illegal too. They are just clowns trying to "regulate" when they have no right to.

I always wondered about this. One time I was out at NSB and had a nice long session early and then around noon the "contest" started, but I was already in the lineup and hadn't realized a contest had started till I heard the bull horn and saw a couple jerseys, then I noticed the little tent with flags all around it. I paddled in and got out, out of respect, and also because I was dead tired by that point, but I wondered what would have happened if I had stayed (nothing?). I also didn't go down to Venice Jetty here on the Gulf because they were holding a contest and I thought it would be off limits to general public during the contest, now i'm wishing I had went, because the waves were really good that day.